This project centered on the comprehensive editing of a coaching manual for a fitness training department. The process included substantive editing, copyediting, and layout adjustments, aiming to produce a clear and user-friendly manual for new trainers.
This project was created in Summer 2024 for my Principles of Technical Editing course. The assignment was to find a real client with a live document in need of comprehensive editing. We would perform the entire scope of editing- substantive, copyediting, and proofreading.
The real client aspect was daunting at first, but it was quite empowering once the project finished. My first (sort of) professional experience in the Technical Communication field!
I decided to ask a former coworker of mine, head of the personal training department at a gym, if she had any documents that needed editing. After some back and forth, she ended up sending me her coach’s training manual to edit.Upon first glance, the document looked polished. This initially led me to believe that the document may not need much editing, rendering it useless for this project.
However, once I took a closer look at the text, I knew there was a lot of work to be done. The pages were filled with typos, grammatical errors, missing punctuation, and were in need of many edits for clarity.
After initially assessing the document’s usability, I worked closely with the client to clarify their needs and expectations. My process involved substantive editing to refine content structure and tone, followed by rounds of copyediting and proofreading to enhance clarity and readability.
The manual included training protocols and client interaction guidelines, making it essential that the content be accurate, accessible, and easy to navigate. Using Microsoft Word for tracked changes and Canva for layout, I adapted digital tools to enhance the document’s instructional effectiveness. By transforming this manual into a polished, functional resource, I deepened my editing skills, developed client communication experience, and practiced tailoring language to fit a professional coaching context, ultimately creating a user-friendly guide for new trainers.
First, I began by talking with the client about their needs. The client wanted a comprehensive edit of the document, ensuring the content’s clarity for a wide audience. This document is shared with all of the personal trainers in the company, so it is important to Then, I copied and pasted the entire text into a Microsoft Word document. With the tracked changes feature enabled, I first went through and substantively edited so that the structure, content, language, style and presentation of the document were aligned with the intended purpose and audience. Then, I copyedited to correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and overall correctness and consistency of the text. Finally, I performed proofreading to ensure that the document was ready to be finalized and sent to the client.As part of proofreading, I fixed some of the document’s formatting to help with readability. On Canva, I recreated the essential design elements of the manual, changing the layout slightly for clarity. This project helped me further my editing skills, as well as give me a taste of what working with a real client is like.